Vitae Spirits Distillery — Local services in Charlottesville

My husband and I are not rum or gin drinkers, and while we're probably still not gin drinkers, the rum was exceptional. (Gin is it's own beast, nothing against Vitae's) We got the groupon for the tour, tasting and cocktail and it was one of the best deals I've found yet on groupon. The owner and crafter of the spirits is a retired mircobiologist from Univ. of Virginia. His background allows for a knowledge filled tour that can peak interests of all walks and while taking approx 45 mins, NEVER got boring, but only more interesting. Even my non-drinker parents got something out of it.

I wasn't particularly moved by anything I saw on the cocktail list, so I told the bartender 'I like the gold rum, fresh citrus but not something sweet' He asked if I prefer sour, I said yes, He said "I got you' and made me something he called the Bizzaro! It was awesome! 5 Stars!

The knowledge and the customer service are exceptional. I'd say the only thing they could do better is serve food, but they collaborate with the BBQ joint next door!

Great afternoon out, awesome gift option, great for trying...

My husband and I recently attended the 2-day distilling class at Vitae Spirits Distillery. We are both novices to distilling spirits, Ian (the founder) presented a broad-brush distilling class that was very informative and loads of fun. The high light was having the opportunity to distill a small batch of run, and evaluate through a tasting of the spirit to better understand how run. This was a great class, which we would love to take again, great deal of fun, and Ian was genuinely interested in sharing information about distilling and the industry in general. Will recommend this class to everyone for a fun get away weekend in Charlottesville at Vitae Spirits. Everyone at Vitae is friendly and genuinely want all their guest to have a good time having a tasting, or trying their wonderful cocktails, best Rum, we are hooked! Thanks Ian for a wonderful weekend,...

We had a fantastic evening with Vitae Spirits owner, Ian Glomski. He is SUCH a nice guy, not to mention brilliant and interesting! Ian gave us a short primer on distilling then taught us a Mixology 101 class that was a blast. The Vitae Spirits rums and gins were all delicious. Perhaps the favorite was the Pain Suppression (like a Pain Killer TM); absolutely delicious! We then each had a turn behind the bar making a kind of drink in 3 different ways (super dry, middle, very sweet). It was fascinating to see how the balance of the drink and the quality of the spirit impacted the drinks. The distillery and store are clean and classy; what a great place to hangout with friends and learn a new skill. THANK YOU, IAN! We'll be back...